I love American democracy. But love can break your heart.

We need a new form of resistance that will be strongest when it is focused to protect the very democracy that just broke our hearts.

Eight years ago, when Donald Trump was first elected, I wrote that despite the terrible campaign he ran, we owed him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he would reach out, he would heal, he would bring us together. He did not.

This time, while I respect the choice of my fellow Americans, I do not think Mr. Trump gets the benefit of the doubt. Too many, too important, too urgent, questions cannot now be abandoned. Climate change, for example, will not wait for the next election. The rule of law, with its constitutional protection of those of us in the minority, must not be suspended to more expediently carry out the majority’s agenda.

A Democratic post-mortem is necessary, and it must be honestly undertaken. It will take courage, because we may not like what we see in the mirror. Inflation contributed to the outcome. But so did our views on immigration and our limitless embrace of every form of personal liberation.

If I am honest, I must admit at least the possibility that American democracy will die. Hungary and Turkey and perhaps Israel, provide examples for authoritarian takeover. Often these authoritarians have popular support. Americans have long understood that tyranny of the majority is not the same thing as majority rule. Do we still?

The corrupting influence of corporate dark money in our elections, made possible by a Supreme Court that distrusts democracy, may be too powerful. Too many of the guardrails have fallen: the GOP, the Supreme Court, much of the media.

But I cling to another possibility. One where Americans cast a paradoxical vote against the corruption of our democracy. I know that sounds crazy this morning. Mr. Trump is the wrong choice for cleaning it up, but his appeal as an outsider cannot be overstated. It isn’t much of a straw to grasp, but it is a real one.

And it offers this guidance: Against the worst instincts of Mr. Trump and his most radical supporters, we need a new form of resistance that will be strongest when it is focused to protect the very democracy that just broke our hearts.